All's Well That Ends Well
by Joan123
Summary: This is a short multi-chapter quick-fix story because I really need Walter and Paige to have a happy ending and I feel a strong need to re-tell what happened in the finale. The story is consistent with the canon although it is my interpretation of the ending, where thing are easily repaired.
1. Chapter 1

When Florence was entering the garage she didn't know what to expect. After all, it was just last night that everything exploded – his girlfriend broke up with him with a big bang and his long-time friends and colleagues left in anger. And Sylvester... she didn't want to think about him right now. She came here with a purpose. And though she hated the thought of doing this to him after everything that happened last night, of being yet another person in his life to betray him, she had no other option. She couldn't go on like this any longer. Last night after everyone left he was pretty adamant that he wanted Cabe and her gone too. He wanted to be alone. She could understand that. Wanting to be alone and hide when everything around you comes apart. But she couldn't hide any more.

When she went inside, she saw him working at his desk. He was shaven and his shirt was ironed out. She didn't know why that scene would surprise her so much. What did she expect? To see him crying in his pillow? Drunk senseless? She didn't know exactly but this... this was weird. But it was Walter, so maybe it made some convoluted sense.

"Florence. You look like you've seen a ghost. What are you doing here?" And then she saw it in his eyes. Emptiness.

"You... you're working."

"Of course I'm working. There's a lot to be done and as you know, all my employees have quit." She looked at him in silence. "I don't want to be rude but is there anything you wanted? Because I am really pressed for time."

She hesitated. This was not going to be easy.

"I... I wanted to call you but you didn't answer your phone."

"I left it upstairs. I didn't want to be disturbed." Besides, there was no one to call him anyway. He quickly texted Cabe after he got up to let him no he was ok. Which he wasn't. Not by one bit. But he didn't feel like having the old man come by and try to talk to him about his feelings. Try to force him to put in words what was going on in his heart. He didn't want to think about last night. He most certainly didn't want to feel anything. He had years of practice in that area – hiding from the world.

He was positive he could do this again, he just needed some time, and having Cabe around, trying to stir everything inside him wouldn't help.

"Walter, I need to talk to you."

He looked at her with those empty eyes and numb half-smile. "I don't think there's really anything left to say."

"It's not about what you think. It's not about yesterday. It's about something that's been weighing on me for a long time. Something I need to tell you."

He gave her a resigned look. "I'm listening then."

She took in a deep breath. "What I said yesterday... about having developed feelings for you... well it's true." He raised his hand to interrupt her. "But you said it was not going to be about that."

"Please. Just let me finish. I promise I'll be brief."

He sank in his chair with resignation. "Ok. Please continue."

She cleared her throat. "So, I genuinely care about you. I hate that this happened to me, I really do but this is how I feel. And I know you don't feel the same way. I don't think I even realized it before everybody started questioning me about it. But now I do and I have to come clean about something else. Do you remember when I told you a few months back that my lab had run into a funding gap? When that's when he approached me."

And she told him what she knew. How someone had offered to get her out of financial trouble in return for a favor that seemed pretty trivial at that time. All she had to do was report on her neighbors. And he wasn't even concerned with corporate espionage. More with what was going on between the team, what they were doing. At first, she didn't consider it a big deal – the intel she had seemed harmless enough and team Scorpion didn't initially appear like a nice bunch anyway. Besides, she did what she had to do. Right?

Walter listened to her carefully, his expression unreadable. When she was done, he asked her: "When was the last time you contacted him?"

"I was before... before we went to that lecture. I gave him nothing for the past weeks, I swear!"

"So nothing about yesterday?" She already said it but he had to make sure.

"Nothing." What was he thinking and what was going on? He didn't even seem surprised. If anything... maybe a little excited? No, that's silly. She's really bad at reading emotions.

After a moment of silence he finally said: "Florence, please go home, don't talk to anyone about what you just told me. Please. I trust you. We'll talk about this later."

Once Florence left, he quickly ran upstairs to get his phone. He needed to talk to Cabe right now. They may finally get a chance at getting Collins and closing this chapter of their lives for good. Then he saw a few missed calls. All from... Paige. And a voice message. He felt his fingers tremble when he was checking his voice mail.

"Walter, it's me..." Her voice was so small and so shaky, as if all of yesterday's anger had dissipated. "I've been trying to call you all morning... I understand why you don't want to talk to me after what happened yesterday..." He didn't want to talk to her? What was she saying! He only left that stupid phone upstairs because he didn't think she'd call him in a million years after everything she had told him the day before. "I hate everything that's happened between us yesterday. Can we please talk?" There was so much misery and pleading in her voice that made his heart thump loud in his chest. Is that possible that she wants to sort things out? Give them another try? That was unlikely after she basically said she was unhappy with him and that she despised who he was. Called their relationship and experiment. She probably just feels bad about how things ended and not about the very fact that they ended. The nice person that she is, she probably can't bear the thought of him hating her. As if he ever could. Either way, he had to know what she meant. Collins can wait. He grabbed his car keys and sped to the door.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

"You're being awfully quiet."

Toby watched his wife get dressed, make coffee and go through the morning paper, all in absolute silence. She didn't even respond to his soft "Good morning." He knew she wasn't reading anyway, her eyes were unfocused and her mind was elsewhere. He could bet his Harvard diploma that he knew exactly where.

"You've barely said a word since last night."

She finally looked up at him. "What do you want me to say? This sucks. It all sucks. I hate everything that happened. That's not what we do. We don't act like that. We don't fight. We support each other. We help each other."

This is not your fault honey, he wanted to say. But he knew better than to interrupt her so he just let her continue.

"I hate that he can be such a stubborn jerk. That he didn't listen when I'd been doing nothing but warning him for the past days. But still... we're friends. It sucks that we left just like that after the waitress went all nuclear on him. And Sly... what the hell is going on? Is everybody high or what? And since when does Florence have feelings for Walt?!"

Toby cleared his throat. "Yeah... there is a tiniest bit of possibility that I might have played some part in one thousandth of this." She have him a questioning look. "Remember when I told you about Walter's dream? We had a good laugh about it that night, remember?"

"I do but what does it have to do with anything?"

"Well, he told me about it because he wanted my advice on what to do. He felt pretty awful and I told him to come clean to Florence about it."

"You did what?!" She was looking at her husband as if he suddenly grew two heads. "Isn't a genius behaviorist supposed to know that this might put some stupid ideas in her head?"

Toby looked away for a moment. "Yeah... It was right after we came back from our honeymoon... With my... performance problems... Only to learn that I had been replaced by Quincy Burke on a job. And when he came to me for advice I was really off my game..."

"Toby," she said quietly, "this was stupid but this doesn't make what happened later your fault."

"Yes, I know. But still... I knew I screwed up. But if he hadn't been such an idiot about this lecture date, there most likely wouldn't have been any consequences to my actions. And now I wouldn't have to worry about it. That's why I got so pissed at him yesterday."

Happy looked at him sadly.

"I just hate that he's alone right now. I know how I'd feel if you had just dumped me and everyone else had just told me to screw myself. I just wanna go check on him."

"Then let's go."

Walter opened the door to the garage, ready to leave but he didn't manage to take as much as a step outside because there she was, standing right at his threshold. She had dark circles under her eyes and she didn't look like she had slept much that night.

"Hi," she said quietly. Then she noticed the car keys in his hands. "Are you going somewhere?"

"I was. To see you."

"Oh. May I come in?"

"Yes, sure," He said quickly and let her inside after realizing that they had just been standing there, staring at their feet for a longer while.

After another prolonged moment of silence, Paige finally opened her mouth.

"I don't really know where to start," she admitted.

Start by telling me if it's over or not. By saying that you believe me when I tell you you're the one for me. By telling me that despite what you said yesterday, we can fix this! He felt was yelling inside but words wouldn't come out so he just waited for her to continue.

"Walter," she resumed, "I have no idea how we ended up here. But I know this is not where I want to be. Can we please take a step back and discuss this like adults?"

"Yes." If this was someone else, she would probably take the concise answer as a sign of poor effort on his part but she knew better by now. She took a deep breath.

"I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely and entirely honest with me."

"I will, I promise."

"Do you have any, even the tiniest feelings for Florence?"

"No!" he said, maybe a little too loud, feeling anger burning inside him. He slowly inhaled and repeated, this time in a quieter but firm voice. "No, I don't. I never have and I never thought about her that way. About anyone since we've been together. Also, what you said about her being able to stimulate me... I don't know where this came from. I don't need anyone to stimulate me intellectually. That's what I have lectures, papers and research for. I worked with her because she took interest in my project. To me, it was like working with Sly or Happy. I took her to the lecture because I knew she would enjoy it and I didn't want to waste the ticket. I had bought the tickets months before, it was a really big event I had been looking forward to. Still, I would never had gone there, with or without her, if I knew how much this would upset you."

"But you kind of did know that, since you were so scared to tell me."

"Yes. But I didn't realize that at that time. It wasn't until Happy and Toby gave me a hard time about it that I realized how you might take it. It made me sick. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I thought I was protecting you. I don't think this white lie concept, or any other lie for that matter, works for me. It's confusing and it's a recipe for disaster."

Paige nodded: "I see that now and I'm sorry I made you do that. The more I think about this, the more I see how immature that was of me to ask you to lie just because I couldn't take a little criticism. I don't want to be too fragile to hear the truth. I know you never tell me things to be mean. You only state facts. That's actually something I've always loved about you. It can be annoying and frustrating but it's so refreshing, you know, in a world where people say things because they have agendas and not because they mean them."

She finally noticed the puzzled look on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm confused... I'm not really sure where we are going with this conversation. Yesterday you told me I don't satisfy you and that you hate everything about me."

She looked at him, tears coming to her eyes. She swallowed hard. "You see, we are different. You only state facts. I don't. I was so angry and so hurt and so humiliated that I didn't care about the facts. I only cared about the effect my words would have. To hurt you back. I'm so sorry. I love the way you are. There are brief moments when I don't. When I suddenly get scared because I'm being reminded of how different we are and it frightens me. Because I'm scared that ultimately you will leave me."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How did he fail so miserably at making her feel loved and safe? She was his world, the best thing that ever happened to him. She showed him he was allowed and able to have things he hadn't dreamt of before. He was so happy with her, in their relationship. How is that possible he didn't notice she felt insecure?

"I... I would never leave you. I love you. This has been the best year of my life. I'm sorry I didn't notice, I guess I'm not very good at this."

She laughed quietly, tears running down her cheeks. "You know what? Apparently neither am I. The last time I was in a real relationship was a decade ago. How about we learn this together? Through open communication?"

Instead of answering, he just wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He had no idea how long they were standing there but he didn't move until she stopped crying and until he felt every muscle in her body relax. He softly brushed his thumb across her cheek and looked into her eyes. He did not remember the last time he felt so peaceful. Everything around him turned blurry. All that mattered was her lips on his, her warm body against him and her trembling hands unbuttoning his shirt.

"See?" They suddenly heard Toby's voice behind them. "I told you worry too much."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

The washers were moving back and forth like crazy and the windscreen was still blurry with all the heavy rain. The drive wasn't going to be very long but it still gave him some time to think how to approach the conversation he was about to have. How do you talk to someone whose heart just broke because of you? How do you apologize when you know you actually have nothing to apologize for? Well, if he was being honest, maybe there was something he should be sorry for. Perhaps for his words being a little too harsh. Or maybe for not noticing that something was going on in his friend's heart when apparently everyone else did.

He'd had follouts with people before. It's fair to say that his life has been a series of fallouts, both with strangers and the people he loved. He's fought with Toby numerous times. He's had his share of blowouts with Cabe and Paige. Not to mention his parents. He even was at odds with Ralph at one point. But never with Sylvester. He's always had extra kindness and patience reserved for his little brother because he knew Sly needed that more than anyone else. He also felt a strong sense of obligation towards him stemming from the respect and trust Sylvester had for him. A need to live up to that. And now the respect was gone, all that was left was hurt and anger.

Maybe he should have asked Paige and Toby for advice after all. Bet then again, everybody's judgment has been so clouded lately. And it's not that he didn't trust them but maybe that's something he had to work out on his own. At least he wouldn't have to blame them if their advice turned out to be crappy. And blame them he would.

He wasn't so immature and arrogant as to think that there was no fault of his in the recent mess. Not by a long shot. But he also recognized the part others played. Still, he really wanted to put all this behind them. He didn't think prolonged conversations precisely allocating the blame or long and hearty apologies were an efficient way to spend a day. So when Happy and Toby appeared in the garage half an hour ago, with a mixture of genuine concern, guilt and relief in their words and on their faces, he saw no point in discussing things any further. Let bygones be bygones. We all made mistakes, we care about each other, we've learnt our lessons and let's leave it at that. And he knew things were going to be fine. With Paige it was different – he couldn't risk to leave anything unsaid if he wanted to spend his life with her. And in some aspects, Sly was more like Paige than him, Happy or even Toby. More vulnerable. More emotional. And the only one who actually lost something through all this. He just hoped right know Sylvester's genius, reasonable side wouldn't be completely overridden by emotions.

When his knocking was left unanswered, Walter let himself in. The door wasn't locked anyway. He saw Sylvester doing equations on his white board.

"Sly." Walter really wanted to look at his face but all he could see was the young genius's back.

"Math calms me, Walter." Of course it did. The only thing in life that was certain. Definite. Factual. Free of deception.

"I know it does, buddy, I know. You can continue as we talk, if you'd prefer that." Anything to make you feel comfortable.

"I would, thank you."

"So..." he started with caution. "I'm really sorry about everything." And that was the truth. He really was sorry. He waited for a moment but didn't get any answer so he continued. "I really didn't mean for any of this to happen. The last thing I wanted is to see you hurt." Sylvester still had his back to him so the response that came seemed quite surprising.

"I know, Walter," he said quietly. "You've always been a good friend."

Walter waited for a moment for a continuation but Sylvester seemed to have gotten lost in his calculations again. Suddenly, he turned to face Walter, saying: "But I'm a crappy one! Paige has just broken up with you. How are you feeling?" The concern in his young friend's eyes was so genuine that Walter felt a strange mixture of emotion, gratitude and hope race through his heart.

"Paige and I talked, we're going to be ok." It felt so good to say it out loud and to have complete faith that this was the truth. They were going to be fine. She wanted this, he wanted this, and nothing would come between them this time.

"I'm happy for you." Silence fell again. Walter noticed the disconcerting pattern between words and silence he's been experiencing today. He dismissed that thought. He needed to stay focused on what was important.

"Sly, I'm sorry for calling you..."

"Stop." Sylvester interrupted him.

"I didn't mean it..."

"Walter, please. You did and you were right. How could I think she'd be there just waiting for me if she didn't even know how I felt? Losing her was just a matter of time, especially since she was never mine to begin with." Walter twitched, Sylvester's words ringing way too close to home. He's been there once. And it was a bad place. He remembered how he'd felt back then. That's the curse of having eidetic memory. Forgetting was a defense mechanism designed by nature so that people would not go crazy. He and his friends were deprived of that blessing. He knew Sylvester would never forget the hurt he was feeling right now. But he could make it look pale by creating good memories.

"But at least now you know..." Walter's voice was truly hopeful "that you're ready to be with someone again. Once you know that, you'll find someone."

Sylvester gave him a sad smile. "You know as well as I do that people like us don't find someone just like that. And you know what the worst part is, Walter? That you don't even want her. I feel like you took her away from me while you don't even want her."

"Sly..."

"No, Walter, I know that's not what happened. I know you're devoted to Paige. I know you did nothing to make her fall for you. I know you didn't know I had feelings for her. But what I know and how I feel are two different things right now."

"Is there anything I can do" Walter started slowly "to help these two align?"

"Only time can do this, I guess... But there is one thing you can do."

"Anything, pal, anything."

"I'd like to unquit. I need something to occupy my mind right now."

Walter give him a small smile: "Then it so happens I might have a job for us. It pays nothing but the goal is extremely rewarding. And the bonus part is that you'll get to officially hate me for a little while."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

TWO WEEKS LATER

"Paige, wait," Walter said as he saw her shut the door to Gettleman's office right in his face. He cursed himself for his temporary lack of self-restraint. But then again, he hadn't seen her for almost two weeks and he had missed her so badly. He didn't remember the last time they were apart for so long. It was probably when he was in physical therapy after driving off that cliff. Ages ago. Like in a different lifetime. So much has happened since then.

It's been two weeks – so much for his longing heart but so little in so many other aspects. For instance, it was enough for Paige to start her own company and already get them jobs. Taking away his long-time friends, his allies, his coworkers in the process. Stealing his ideas and his prospective clients. Just as they planned.

He was so impressed.

Initially, she really wasn't too fond of their plan, to put it mildly. But they all felt like this was a now-or-never situation. Collins being out there was their fault. Actually, mostly his, he corrected himself. He was the one to get him out of prison and he was the one to tell Cabe to take off the bracelet. Not a week went by without him wondering if maybe right now, when he is living his life, with the woman he loved right by his side, someone was being hurt because he set a madman free. They somehow couldn't get any lead on him. The software he and Sylvester designed to track him backfired. But they couldn't just give up and forget it. They may have been lacking ideas but now an opportunity presented itself and no matter how slim it was, they had to take it.

What Florence told him meant Collins didn't just move on. His obsession with his former teammates was still there, which was yet another reason not to leave this hanging. The dramatic fallout in the garage the other night was a perfect starting point. If Collins was ever going to resurface, it had to be with the team apart and Walter left vulnerable and on his own. No Happy, Toby and Sylvester, who have already pulled him away once, and definitely no Paige. Paige wouldn't see at first why they couldn't all just pretend to split and go their separate ways. Without any hatred, angst and rivalry. But he and Toby agreed that might not be enough. There had to be resentment involved. They needed something powerful to create enough rift and desolation for Collins to believe to be able to feed on. Florence just needed to send the message.

"How do we know she'll play along?" Happy wondered.

"She will. She wants out and she doesn't want to look back over her shoulder all her life in fear of a psychopath. He might as well just let her be but unless he is arrested, she will never know for sure." Walter's voice conveyed much more certainty than he actually felt but he dismissed that thought. Once the team agrees on the details, they'll talk to her and they'll know soon enough.

"Do we tell her the truth? Can we trust her?" Happy asked again.

None of them actually felt competent enough to answer that question. Paige and Sylvester were far from objective, for obvious reasons. Walter has never been the best at reading what people are hiding in their hearts and recently he's had so many miserable failures in this respect on so many fronts, he didn't really trust his judgment. Happy was already duped by Florence once, and Toby was clearly unable to see through her either. Maybe it would be safer to let Florence believe that the reconciliation never happened. To put up a charade for Collins's as well as her benefit. But then again, he felt this would be taking advantage of her. And as important as it was to get Collins, he didn't want to lose his soul, whatever that was, in the process. He felt Paige squeeze his hand lightly, giving him a reassuring smile. To show him that she understood. God, he loved her so much.

They agreed Cabe should stay close to Walter. Collins would probably underestimate the impact he had on Walter's psyche anyway. He was uneasy about working together with Florence after what happened, even though it made sense – they had to stick together until this was over. And if he was to act like he's competing against his former teammates, he needed the manpower.

"I'm not sure I can do this..." Paige started when they had a moment alone. "I'd have so much tasks to handle and I'm not even sure where to start..."

"Of course you can do this. You might not be a genius but ever since we met you've done nothing but show how competent you are. Whatever responsibilities you got, you always succeeded. You learn so quickly, you can do anything. There's no one I trust more than I trust you."

How could she think that he did not value her enough? After all, he was the first person in her life who believed in her, who saw her as more than a pretty face. Who gave her a chance. Who gave her responsibilities. Who trusted her judgment on important matters. How did she get so blinded by her jealousy of Florence that she forgot all that? So what that she's not a scientific mind. He knew exactly who she was and it never mattered to him. Why did she insist in her mind that one day it would? Things were becoming so clear to her right now that she couldn't believe all the obsessive thoughts she'd been having for the past weeks.

"Besides," he added "You won't be alone. You'll have the team to help you. You'll do this together."

"I know."

"Then what is it? Is it about me and Florence getting to work together for the upcoming weeks? Because I swear..." She stopped him by gently putting her palm on his mouth. Then she put her hands around his neck. "I know," she started. "I don't want to be poisoned by these thoughts any longer. And I hate what we're about to do but I know once it's over, we get a fresh start, in a way. We get to do things right. And this is what's going to get me through this. I'm just terribly worried about..."

"Ralph."

"Yes."

"You have to send him to Drew for the summer. School is ending in a couple of days. And maybe it won't be that long anyway."

"I don't think he'll particularly love the idea. They're not particularly close, as you know."

"I know but still, Drew won't say 'no' and Ralph's a smart boy, he'll understand. You'll just have to tell him the truth. To a reasonable extent, anyway."

"How about Drew?"

"Let's stick to our story. Tell him we broke up and you need to take care of some business arrangements."

"I hate this. But I love you."

"Reciprocated. On both accounts."

This was two weeks ago but it felt like ages ago. But now that everything has been set in motion, he hoped this would end soon.

TBC

AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So, as you can see, I wrote this story to convince myself that the finale actually wasn't as it seemed. That Walter and Paige never broke up (because an overnight breakup with reconciliation in the morning is not actually a breakup but a lovers' fight), that Toby and Happy never meant to abandon Walter and stab him in the back but they just went home for the night because they had enough of the fighting, and that Sylvester realized when his first anger dissipated that his accusations were actually preposterous and Walter was not responsible for his broken heart. I convinced myself that the team never stopped being a family and caring for each other, that they never reached a point where things would be so hard to forgive. That the team actually never split. And mostly, that Paige never really left Walter this time (except for the night) because if she did, how could he ever trust her again, with her history of leaving/threatening to leave him whenever things get hard? Thank you all for taking the time to read this.**


	5. Chapter 5

AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Thank you all for reading and reviewing – you guys are the best!**

Even with his poor EQ he noticed that Florence had been miserable for the past two weeks. She agreed with everything they planned, she felt bad about making a deal with the devil and now she wanted to end this. But she refused to talk to the team and she left as soon as all the details were set. Once they got a signal from Paige and the rest about a week and a half later that they were ready with all the arrangements for the new company, she passed the message to Collins. She drafted a description of what happened in the garage and in the aftermath, with their names changed as she was first instructed, careful to leave herself out, replacing her role with a stranger. She then posted it on a website where aspiring writers would share their stories and exchange ideas. She had no chance of knowing if he even read this. Walter knew that tracking him among thousands of the site's readers would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Especially if he never used the site to communicate with her. She only met him once and it was face to face.

Over the two weeks, Florence rarely came to the garage – only when they had to discuss something work-related. Which wasn't much. The Gettleman pitch was actually his job. He had worked on the proposal for a few weeks and he was the one to finish it – alone. They had some potential clients coming up so there obviously were some arrangements to make. She still had her own lab, though, she got all she needed there. Besides, she had some of her own projects to continue. This was convenient for both of them because it made things less awkward but it also caused him to worry about her more. Even without being the most empathic person in the world he realized that she might need someone to talk to. He had Paige. And even if they weren't talking right now, he knew she was out there. Loving him like he loved her. Missing him like he missed her. Thinking about him like he thought about her. And he knew that once it's all over, they'll make up for the time they are losing right now and the time they'd wasted over the past months with their miscommunication, lies, jealousy and unsaid expectations. But Florence was alone. No love. No friends. It had to suck. And he couldn't help but feel to blame for that outcome, even if logically he knew this was hardly his fault. But somehow logic was losing the battle with the guilt in his heart right now. He finally grabbed his phone and called her to go get coffee together. Discussing things in the garage wouldn't be too smart right now. He didn't want to risk their mission.

"Thank you for coming," he finally said when she came over. He really had no idea where to start but he had to start somewhere. "I know it's..."

"I'm leaving," she interrupted him. This took him by surprise.

"You mean, right now..?"

"No," she shook her head. "But once this is over, I'm terminating my lease and I'm looking for another home. I mean place. Another place."

He didn't know what to say. "Is this because of what happened?"

She took a deep breath. "Of course this is because of what happened. The past months... this hasn't been the most fortunate time for me. For a moment there I thought that things were looking up, you know – I got my company going, I got investors, I even made friends. I'd never had friends before. And then I suddenly had people to hang out with, you, Ralph, Sylvester..." tears came to her eyes. "And then I did what I always do. I self-destructed. I ruined everything." She really didn't know what had possessed her to blurt out these unfortunate words the other night. If she had more self-restraint she'd probably be dating Sylvester right now. He's such a sweet, wonderful man and they got along so well. She was pretty sure in time she'd be able forget about ever having those stupid, ridiculous, embarrassing, unfair, unreciprocated feelings for Walter in the first place. She'd have family and friends. She'd no longer be alone. And now that it was out in the open, everything was ruined. Sylvester would never take a chance on her now. Paige hated her, and for a good reason – she'd been hanging out with her boyfriend with not the purest of thoughts, and she didn't even want to imagine what Ralph would think of her – as a wedge, even if only potential, between his parents. All because she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

There was so much emotion going through her usually stoic face that Walter felt like he had to do something. He wanted to reassure her but this was a rather foreign territory to him. But he knew about self-destruction. That he could relate to.

"You know, people can be more forgetting than you think," he started. "If they weren't, I'd have been alone for a long time now. We all would. Everybody screws up sometimes. I screwed up too. I lied to Paige but eventually she understood and she forgave me."

She looked at him with doubt. "Do you think she'd have the same understanding for me?"

His mouth and his tongue really wanted to say 'Yes' but all that came out was a quiet "No." Damn it, he really was bad at this white lie concept.

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

"But I believe Sylvester would. He really has no reason to be angry with you, if he ever was. He tends to react emotionally but he is very susceptible to facts. And the fact is you didn't know how he felt so you cannot be held accountable for hurting him."

"Thank you." Some tension definitely started to dissipate. They just kept sipping their respective coffees for a while but maybe for the first time since that night the silence wasn't as uncomfortable. Walter finally broke it first. "Florence?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really sorry if I did anything to make you..."

"You didn't." And with her words he released a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

His half-positive mood quickly disappeared when he returned to the empty garage. How much longer was it going to stay empty? He missed everyone so much. Especially Paige and Ralph. Maybe it was too long of a shot after all. He sighed as he turned on the lights.

"Hello, Walter."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I really needed Walter and Florence to have this conversation before I can re-focus on Walter/Paige. I felt Walter would come off as a self-centered jerk, which he is not, if he just dismissed Florence's misery in all this. After all, it was always obvious that Walter, Paige and the rest were going to make up, sooner or later. They had long history and they truly cared for each other. Florence, on the other hand, was given the ungracious role of an outsider who gets in between long-time friends and is left alone in the end. I needed him to acknowledge her misfortune, and maybe express his sorrow about the outcome, perhaps try to reassure her. It's obvious he never had any romantic feelings for her but they had something that resembled a friendship and I thought she deserved to have her feelings considered.**


	6. Chapter 6

AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Writing is not that easy for me – before I started that story I hadn't written anything creative since high school, and this was over two decades ago. Besides, as you must have noticed, English is not my mother tongue, which makes things extra hard. Thank you all for sticking with the story despite that.**

"Marc. What do I owe this dubious pleasure to?"

"Oh, you know very well what that is. You asked me to come. And unlike some, I don't abandon my friends in need. I got your message."

"I don't know what you're talking..."

"Of course you do. You wanted to see me."

Walter wondered how much exactly Marc knew. Did he knew that was all a ruse? He decided it didn't matter. What mattered was that he was here. And that Cabe was about to arrive any second now. He pressed the button in his pocket as soon as he heard the familiar voice. Now he just had to keep him here long enough.

"So..." he started slowly. "What makes you think I do?"

"I know what happened between you and your... friends. And I know you wanted me to know. I recognized your words in the message that girl sent me. You know this had to happen. Your experiment had to fail eventually."

"What experiment?" Walter asked, moving slowly moving towards his desk.

"The one where you pretended you were someone you're not. The one with you playing house with that boy and his mum. The one with Thanksgiving parties and Christmas decorations. You wanted to fit in. But they still rejected you. Because they don't appreciate you for who you are."

The muscles on Walter's face twitched barely noticeably for a fraction of a second. He quickly regained composure and gave Collins a bored look. "If you say so." He didn't have to play along anymore. It was just a matter of minutes right now.

"It's no one's fault, Walter. She might even waltz back here, apologizing, saying she was wrong, that she didn't mean it. But deep down you'll know she did. And that it's just a matter of time before it happens again. There's no way you can make it last. Unless you stop fighting your true nature, unless you reject the mundane and the trivial, you'll never be free."

"And just how free are you Marc?" he asked, glancing at the clock. What was taking them so long?

"I was free until you had me locked up."

"You gave me no choice."

"Well, I'm giving you one now. You can leave all that behind and do something meaningful with your life. Do something for science, without anything holding you back. Without the restrictions of time, which you seem to be following intensely right now. They're not coming."

Ok, so he knew. Walter was not surprised, though. He was just worried about his friends. "What did you do Marc?"

"Your magic button couldn't have worked, you see. It's fried." Oh, so that's what he meant. No one is hurt, then. He quietly sighed with relief.

Suddenly the door burst open and they saw Cabe with the a few LAPD officers.

"How...?"

"I had a backup under the desk."

Walter saw Collins reach under his coat and threw himself at him. Things turned blurry. He heard Cabe shouting, Collins mumbling something under his breath, explosion, his vision impaired and smoke squeezing tears out of his eyes. People like shadows moving among the flames, or were these actual shadows? He couldn't tell. The sound of broken glass, Toby and Paige yelling and Sylvester throwing something. Or maybe the last part he dreamt up. He wasn't sure.

ooooooooooo

When he opened his eyes he was in a hospital bed. The room was dark, Paige was asleep in the armchair next to him. He studied her carefully. Her clothes were crumpled and she had dark smudges on her face but she seemed fine. She shifted her body and her face grimaced, she must have been having a bad dream. He sat down on the bed, gently took her hand into his. He watched her as her breath was becoming steady again. He wanted to move back but as he was withdrawing, she squeezed his hand to make him stay.

"Hey," she said sleepily.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up."

She opened her eyes, now fully awake. "I'm glad you did. How are you feeling?" She leaned forward to gently touch his face with the tips of her fingers. "You should be lying down. You're a little banged up. They decided to keep you overnight for observation."

"I feel fine. What happened? Did they catch Collins? Is everyone OK?"

"Yes and yes. It's just..." she hesitated, clearly struggling to find the right words.

"What is it? Please."

She took a deep breath. "It's just the garage, it looks rather bad."

"I need to see this."

"You should be resting."

"Oh, I will. Just not here. But first things first – could you lend me your phone for a second?" She looked at him quizzically but handed him the cell nonetheless.

"Sure. What do you need to do?"

"Get Ralph a flight back home."

ooooooooooo

The view they witnessed upon entering wasn't particularly encouraging. Burnt furniture and equipment, soot, ash and a smell of dampness from fire suppressants. Paige instinctively took Walter's hand and squeezed him reassuringly.

"Hey, lazybones! I thought you were going to keep hiding in the hospital bed until we're done cleaning," Happy beamed at them.

"I'm glad to see you too," Walter grinned back.

Toby and Sylvester emerged from the back. "Look who's crushing the cleaning party!" Toby waved his mop.

Sylvester studied Walter's face for a moment. "You don't look too worried."

Walter smiled at his friend. Despite the havoc wrought around him, in his home, he hadn't felt so peaceful for weeks. The tension between him and Paige resolved. Collins resolved. He wasn't going to obsess over petty stuff. "These are just things. They can be rebuilt and restored. I don't care about any of that. I could have lost so much more. When I was out, I had a dream..."

"Any other new neighbors?" Toby chirped, quite satisfied with his joke. Happy shot him a torpedo look. "What?" Her husband raised his arms defensively. "Too soon?"

Paige reassuringly put her hand on Walter's shoulder. "What dream was that?"

"Actually, it was quite a nightmare. I had a dream that after that fight we had in the garage... We never spoke again." He turned to Paige. "That you left me for good. That you hated me. That you created Centipede because you all wanted to get back at me, each of you for your own reasons." He blinked at the memory.

"It's a good thing it was just a dream then," Toby said sincerely. Silence fell. They all got lost in thought, each appreciating what they have in their little family. Thinking about how close they were to losing it.

Happy finally broke the silence: "That place isn't going to clean itself, you know. You all will have plenty of time for sentimentalities later." And she turned back abruptly, mostly to avoid anyone seeing the tear running down her cheek.

"For what it's worth," Sylvester said quietly to Walter as everyone dispersed to get down to their tasks, "it didn't feel good to pretend to hate you. I don't want us to fight ever again."

ooooooooooooo

As the day was nearing the end, Walter and Paige fell heavily onto her couch. He wrapped her arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like this for quite some time, allowing their bodies to rest and their minds to relax after everything they had been through lately. The takeout was sitting at the table right in front of them and their empty stomachs were starting to crave some filling but neither of them wanted to break the comfortable silence and the soothing closeness. Paige finally sighed and reached for the food. "We should probably eat before it's completely cold."

"Yeah." Walter agreed as he opened his box.

This was so incredible – to be sitting with her, just like this, all comfortable and domestic. Like they used to before everything went downhill. And they were going to have these moments all the time in the upcoming weeks. Since the garage was currently uninhabitable, he was going to stay with her and Ralph. He was scared to admit how thrilled he was – they had so much catching up to do. He was looking at her in disbelief, mesmerized and completely in awe at the reactions that all his being had to her. But as he kept admiring her beautiful features he noticed her face change, as if something was bothering her.

"You seem... thoughtful."

She turned to looked him in the eye. "I've been thinking about your dream. Walter, I need you to know... I would never do that. I would never disappear on you like that. No matter how mad I got, I never intended to leave you for good. Please believe me."

He looked into her loving eyes and if he ever had any doubt, it would melt under her warm gaze.

"And will you please believe me when I say you're the only one I want?"

She responded with a deep, long kiss. A moment later, she pulled away for air and look into his eyes. "This may be a weird thing to say but I feel like Collins being locked away can give us some closure also in terms of our... problems." Walter looked at her curiously. "What I mean is that he poisoned my mind that day we were dealing with the extinction event. I know he didn't create those issues for me – they were already there... But he brought them out and manipulated them to draw us apart. And the fact that we knew exactly what he was doing didn't help. Of course, I always knew even without him that us being together was never going to be smooth sailing. I already learnt that lesson on the island... But I always thought about us in terms of how much effort it will require to make this work and not in terms of IF we were going to make this work at all. He made me doubt us. And now that he's been... contained, I kind of feel that I'm free from his... spell. I know this sounds ridiculous, I'm not sure how to put this to make it sound otherwise, but do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

He found her line of reasoning oddly logical. Maybe this was a sign that he was becoming less logical himself. But he couldn't care less.

"I'm glad that recent developments are putting your mind at ease. Collins going behind the bars helps me relax too, on so many levels. Let's now focus on looking ahead. On the future."

"Our future," she repeated. She loved the sound of these words.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Theoretically, the fix story could end here but the characters still aren't precisely where I want them to be – there are things I need to see happen before I end this.**


	7. Chapter 7

He couldn't remember the last time things were so busy. Aside from the garage reconstruction works, thankfully covered by insurance, they had a lot of work on their hands. After all, they had to handle the contracts awarded both to Scorpion and to Centipede in the brief period when they were split. Brief, because as soon as Collins was apprehended, before the dust even settled, both literally and metaphorically, they merged, just as agreed. Well, this was not the only merging they'd been doing lately, not requiring more energy either, and definitely not more satisfying than the other one, but desired and fulfilling nonetheless. Things were really looking up. Especially that he didn't mind busy. Who was he kidding – he loved it. He thrived when things got busy. Maybe just not that kind of busy. The one with a three-storey building crumbling down, almost smashing them against the cold concrete. But yeah, with all the nice and clean jobs they'd had recently, there had to be one to disrupt the balance so that their safe-to-dangerous statistics remained intact. But they made it out alive, with barely a scratch. Things were definitely looking up. And he wanted to keep that growth trend for as long as possible. Which is probably why when he turned to face her, both still on the ground, debris scattered all around them, to tell her he's so glad they were ok, he mumbled "We should get married" instead.

"What did you just say?" With the look she gave him, he was unsure whether she really was uncertain what she just heard or if she was surprised and her question was only rhetorical. But just to make sure she really knew what he meant, he repeated: "I think we should get married. That is..." He added with hesitation, "if you want to." He then noticed they were still lying on the ground and it crossed his mind this might be neither the best position nor the best setting for a proposal. At least he suspected so. He wouldn't know for sure. But now that he'd finally said it, he wasn't going to back down.

"Walter..." Paige started slowly, lifting her body to a sitting position. "That's ok. You're still high on adrenaline."

"Oh." He moved closer to her "You think I'm not being serious."

"Well, we've just barely survived a building collapsing around us." She looked around at the catastrophic landscape. "It's understandable that at that moment you want to celebrate life..."

"I have a ring." He interrupted her firmly.

Her eyes went wide. "You do?"

"Well, not with me right now. But it's something I've been meaning to ask you for a long time now." She looked at him in disbelief. Was it so hard to believe that was what he wanted? He didn't care that their first year together hadn't been perfect. They were learning and they can keep learning as a married couple just as well.

"Do you remember that crazy day with the bank robbery, when we were getting Toby's... sperm to the clinic?" She nodded, with her eyes fixed on his. "We later had dinner in the garage, the three of us. It wasn't any different from all the other family dinners we'd had but it was then... that I realized I was never going to want anything more. That all I wanted from life was just there..." he paused for a moment, trying to read her expression. She didn't try to protest or interrupt him so he continued: "...so marriage seemed like a logical step. I picked the ring the next day."

Paige brushed her disheveled hair away from her face. "It's been months since then. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, soon afterwards but then... everything went sideways. And I didn't know how to fix things. And then when we did fix them, I've been waiting for the right moment."

Paige chuckled and brushed a speck of dust from his face. "And you somehow this was the right moment?"

"No," he grinned. "I guess I had it bottled up for so long that it just came out. Look," he said taking her hand, "I know that this may seem rushed. But I feel that if anything, it's long overdue."

She kept just looking at him, without saying a word. He shifted uncomfortably. Maybe he read it all wrong? He'd kind of had a feeling they were on the same page for the past weeks. But what if she didn't want this? Or she didn't want this right now?

He looked into her eyes. "Am I... wrong?"

"No," she answered, her eyes still on his, a small smile dancing on her lips. She locked her fingers at the back of his neck. "You're right." She said slowly.

"Oh my god, I'm such a moron." He frowned. "I've just realized that I've just robbed you of a romantic proposal."

She brought him close to her, their noses and lips almost touching.

"Are you asking me to marry you or not?" she whispered.

"I definitely am."

"Well, then it's romantic enough for me."

ooooo

They didn't sleep much that night but somehow they woke up early, perfectly rested. But so many things about being with Paige defied science that he wasn't even surprised anymore. He just reveled in every moment they had together.

When they went to the kitchen to make breakfast, Ralph was already there, sitting at the table with his laptop. He just mumbled a barely intelligible "Hey" without looking away from the screen.

"Hey buddy," Walter smiled. "What are you working on? Do you need some help?"

"No." replied curtly.

Walter look at Paige quizzically but she shrugged in return to indicate she had no idea what could have gotten into her son. Could this be about their engagement? Highly unlikely, he always wanted the three of them to be a family and he seemed ecstatic when they told him last night. But then she remembered his good mood had dissipated quickly and he had abandoned their small party pretty early. She thought he just wanted to give them some space on their engagement night – he tended to be so considerate when it came to her needs. But now she wasn't sure anymore.

"Honey, is something bothering you?" she asked gently. He gave her a somber look and turned back to his laptop.

Walter and Paige exchange looks, agreeing without words to give him a little time.

But Ralph suddenly grinned at them with satisfaction: "I'm done, I've found it."

"So, could you tell us about your project now?" Walter asked.

"I was so happy when you guys told me you decided to get married. Long overdue, by the way. But you know, the divorce rate is fifty-three percent."

Paige's eyes widened in disbelief. She shot Walter a questioning look but he put up his arms defensively to show her he had nothing to do with this.

"Well, thank you for that input, mini-Walter," she sneered. "But I've already been made aware of that. Still we're confident we can beat the odds." She smiled and put her arm on his shoulder reassuringly.

"I can help you with that." They looked at him puzzled. "I've considered how long you've known each other, how long you've dated, how old you are, the marriages of your respective parents, your cultural background data, time of the year..."

Paige felt a little dizzy as her son kept listing all the input data he found relevant regarding her and Walter's relationship and relationships, wondering where this was going but fearing to ask.

"...and I have found you a wedding date that bumps your survival rate to seventy-four percent."

She gave him a blank look.

"Seventy-four percent, mum," he repeated, uncertain if she'd heard him.

Paige looked at both of their grins in disbelief. They surely couldn't believe that you can program marital happiness based on statistics. Does she have to remind them it's all about love and the effort you put in making it last? That it's a commitment to be with someone you make not once but every day for the rest of your life? And then she smiled. Of course they did knew this. But perhaps a little statistical support would be welcome too. She chuckled.

"So what date is that?"

"This July, 28th."

"But it's in five weeks!" She glanced at Walter. He gently kissed the back of her hand. "I asked you to marry me because I want us to get married and not stay engaged forever. Do you really think it's too soon?"

She looked at him, her eyes slightly wet. "Well, I guess that July 28th it is," she smiled.

"Good." Ralph said but his thoughts were clearly revolving around something else now. "Where are we going to live?"

Paige and Walter looked at each other in silence.

"Seriously?" Ralph said with mock exasperation. "Have you guys ever discussed anything?"

Walter turned to Paige. "I don't care where we live as long as the three of us are together. We can stay here, we can move into the garage – now is a good time for some remodeling, with the renovation works. Or we can find a new place."

"Mum," Ralph looked pleadingly at his mother, "can we please move into the garage?"

"Shouldn't you be going to school now? You ride will be here any second now. Go, go." She ushered him out.

When she turned back, Walter was leaning with his back against the fridge, his eyes fixed on her. He studied her expression carefully.

"Are you upset? Are you having second thoughts?" He finally asked.

She walked to him slowly and took her hands in his. She looked right into his eyes.

"I think I need to make something clear to you, Walter. Back at Happy and Toby's wedding you told me you'd been in love with me since shortly after we met."

"That's correct."

"Well, truth is, I wasn't that far behind you. In fact, I might have beaten you there. At first I thought it was just a crush, you know, because you'd done so much for me and Ralph. And that it would go away. Besides, I wasn't going to be the girl who gets a chance to turn her life around and the first thing she does is sleep with her boss. But I soon understood those feelings weren't going anywhere. Because they were real. And when I learnt they were real for you too... there was no turning back. Even though I tried to... I thought you'd given up on us so I was trying to give up on us too. It's my greatest regret. We should have already been together back then. But now that we are, I don't want to waste any more time. Despite everything that's happened, this past year has been the best year of my life too. A few years ago I wouldn't believe that I could have all this. A challenging job. Ralph out of his shell. You. I'd never believe I could love someone so much. So am I having second thoughts? No. I also think this is long overdue."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: **There was a time when I had quite a lot going on, both job-wise and home-wise. I had mild depression and I developed insomnia. My husband tried finding me a TV show on Netflix to watch before sleep so that I could take my mind of things. I needed something engrossing but meaningful, lighthearted but not silly. Nothing worked, after a few minutes I'd either get annoyed or lose interest. The night I watched the Scorpion Pilot was my first full night of peaceful sleep in many weeks. Ever since, despite its ups and downs, Scorpion has been like a good friend to me and I'm grateful for that. Now I miss it terribly.**

 **This was the last chapter of my first and probably last story. From now on I'm only going to be reading and reviewing the stories of others. I'm so thankful we have such talented writers on this site who do not let this amazing show and its wonderful characters perish despite the devastating cancellation.**


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